A Mermaid Tale
by Cyrox
Summary: Takato meets a mermaid named Jeri and falls in love with her.


A Mermaid Tale

Cyrox

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or Splash (there are similarities to it and the fic.) And I created Miles and the people at the lab.

Down at a dock area, four-year-old Takato, Kazu, and Kenta were playing with some toy boats. The next thing they heard were some warnings for a storm coming. Kazu and Kenta ran inside, while Takato wanted to get the toy sail boats. Some of them were floating away, so he reached for the strings to pull them back. Then a large wave hit the docks and knocked him right into the water. He struggled against the sea, but with no luck. He had lost consciousness and continued to sink into the water, until something pulled him up. It was a mermaid, she had auburn hair and brown eyes. She carried him up and left him hanging on the docks. Takato came to his senses as he noticed her swimming away, but didn't get a good look at her face. Then his parents scooped him out of the water.

Nine years had past from that time. Now Takato's parents were fishers, so they lived by the sea. Takato liked boats and made models of ships and dreamed of making a boat himself. But ever since that day nine years ago, he had been afraid of the water. But one thing he wondered about is if he really saw a mermaid. He mentioned it to his parents and friends, but they thought he was just seeing things and he believed they were right, but wasn't completely sure.

Now under the sea, there was a mermaid named Jeri. She liked having fun and was very playful. She raced with dolphins and swam with whales. But one thing she always wanted to do is to visit the surface. She dreamed of seeing what it was like and what humans are like. So she swam over to the shore and checked to see if anybody was around. She noticed some clothes that were hanging out to dry. She noticed a Seagull flying above her and she made a shrieking sound that the seagull was able to understand. It flew over to the clothesline and knocked off a green dress and a yellow shirt. Then it picked the clothes up and gave them to Jeri. Jeri put the shirt on over the seashells she was wearing and the then slipped on her dress. She took out a golden scale and held it close to her.

"Make me human," She said.

It started to glow after she said that. She looked down at herself and noticed that she still had her mermaid tail was still there.

"It didn't work," She said.

But then she remembered something, another mermaid once said to her that as long as she's in the water, she'll keep her mermaid tale. So she swam over an abandoned beach and crawled out of the water. Three minutes later when she used a towel she found to dry off, her tail turned into human legs. She smiled as she saw them, she could see the human world. At the time, some people noticed her lying on the beach. They noticed that she was wet and so they thought that she had nearly drowned. One person came over to her to see if she was all right.

"Are you ok?" The man asked.

"Yes," Jeri answered, "I have never been better."

"Do you know what happened to your parents?" Another person asked.

"I don't know my parents," She answered.

Everyone looked at each other.

"She must be an orphan," One person said, "I'll take her to an orphanage."

"But we can't leave her alone," Another said, "the poor thing must be in shock if she nearly drowned."

"I'll take care of her," One woman said, "I'm sure it shouldn't be so hard."

Jeri listened at the crowd's conversation.

"Humans can be so silly," She thought.

The next day, Kazu, Kenta, and Takato were heading out on the lake in a small motor boat.

"Did you hear?" Kenta said, "They found some girl lying on the beach the other day. Mrs. Roberts agreed to take care of her."

"Yeah, they said she's in shock because she barely said anything," Takato said as the boat started shaking.

"Hey, be careful," He warned

"Oh sorry," Kazu said, "but come on, you can't be afraid forever Takato. Just because you had one bad experience."

"Easy for you to say, you never were that close to drowning," Takato replied.

"Maybe I'll have that experience if I did this," He said.

Kazu started to rock the boat. Takato started to get nervous while Kenta was getting sea sick.

"Stop it!" Takato screamed.

"Fine, I was just having some fun."

The guys arrived at the docks and played with some boats. At the time, Jeri was walking around her new neighbourhood and she spotted the boys playing.

"Wow," Jeri said, "this place has kids my age. I wonder what they are like?"

She walked over to the boys and introduced herself.

"Hi," She said, "my name's Jeri."

Takato turned around and saw her. His eyes lit up and he felt a little light headed. In his mind, he'd never seen a girl this cute before.

"Hi," He said, "m-my names Takato. And this is Kazu, and this is Kenta."

"Nice to meet you," She said.

"Hi," Kenta said.

"Hi, we're gonna go swimming, wanna come?" Kazu said.

Now Jeri didn't want anyone to know that she was a mermaid, and if she went into the water, her legs would return to a tail.

"No," She said, "I'd rather not."

"Well you're just about has much fun as mister 'save me from the water' is," Kazu said.

Jeri looked around.

"What are you doing?" Kenta asked.

"I'm looking for this Mr. Save me from the water your friend mentioned," She said.

"He was referring to me," Takato said.

"Don't you know what sarcasm is?" Kazu asked.

"Well, no. I don't get this sarcasm where I come from."

"Well ok," Kazu said as he and Kenta took of their shirts and raced to the beach, leaving Takato and Jeri behind.

"So Jeri, want to go on a boat ride?"

"That sounds good, I've never been on a boat before," Jeri said.

She didn't know what a boat was exactly, but she couldn't say that because she had to keep people from finding out what she really was.

Takato took Jeri to his motor boat and the two of them climbed into it. Takato started the motor and the boat left the docks. Jeri was amazed by it.

"So do you like boats Takato?" She asked.

"Yes," Takato said, "my dream is to build boats one day. And besides, boats and ships are the only way I can get close to the water."

"Why?"

"Because, I'm afraid of water."

"Why do you find it scary?"

"Well, it started when I was four. I fell off the dock and into the water during a heavy storm. The waves were carrying me away and I was helpless. Then... never mind."

"What is it Takato?"

"It's nothing really."

"Why don't you want to mention it?"

"Ok, but promise not to laugh."

"I promise."

"Well, I'm pretty sure that it was a mermaid who saved me. I'm not sure what it was, but I'm very sure it's a mermaid."

Those words sort of shocked Jeri.

"Could it really be him?" She thought.

But at the time, they didn't know that they were heading for some rocks. Takato spotted it and tried to steer away, but it was too late. The boat rammed right into the rocks and sent Takato flying into the water.

"Takato!" Jeri cried as she saw him drowning.

Fear entered her, she didn't want to swim out because the second she did, her tail would return, but she didn't want to see Takato drown.

"Help!" She called, "My friend's drowning!"

But nobody heard her. With no choice, she dove into the water. Her legs quickly turned into a mermaid tale and her sandals slipped off of her feet. She swam toward Takato, grabbed him and swam back to the boat.

"Thanks," Takato said as Jeri got him back onto the boat.

Then she climbed back in and quickly hid her tail under a blanket.

"You're a mermaid?" Takato asked.

"Yes," Jeri said, "I would prefer it if nobody found out. As long as my tail isn't exposed to water, it will appear as human legs. "

"Don't worry, your secret's safe with me."

"Another thing Takato. That mermaid that saved your nine years ago was me. I was hoping to see the person I saved again."

"Well thanks."

"You already said that."

"But not for the first time you saved me, and for showing me that I wasn't crazy."

"You're welcome Takato."

Jeri lifted up the blanket and saw that her tail had changed.

"Let's go back now," She said.

"Ok," Takato said.

Night came and Jeri went outside of the house she was living at. She looked to the left and then to the right and saw that nobody was watching. After that, she dove into the water and started swimming. But what she didn't know was that during her night swim, a scientist was scuba diving to take pictures of sea life. He spotted Jeri and took a picture of her. The light from the camera startled her and she swam back to the shore. Not wanting to know where she was hiding, she climbed onto the walks and crawled until she was able to run. The scientist saw her leave the water and knew that she was hiding on the land.

Takato woke up the next day and went outside to find Kazu and Kenta with some nets.

"What are you guys doing?" Takato asked.

"We're going mermaid hunting," Kenta said, "they've put up a reward for capturing one."

"Yeah, my brother Miles got a picture of one last night," Kazu said as he held up a newspaper that had a picture of what looked like a mermaid on it.

"But, since when do you guys believe in mermaids?" Takato asked, "You call me crazy when I talk about them."

"That's because Miles works at a science lab and has a high education," Kazu explained, "and you were a dumb four year old kid."

Takato just stared at him for that remark. Takato got a newspaper with that picture for himself and took the boat over to Jeri's house. He found her outside looking at the water.

"Jeri!" He said.

"What is it Takato?" Jeri asked.

"I think you should see this,"

Takato held up the newspaper article to her. Jeri did not understand it.

"Takato, I don't know what it means, I can't read," She told him.

"It says that a mermaid has been spotted," Takato told her.

"So that's what the light was. I noticed a light on one of my night swims. I have to expose myself to the ocean or else I will lose my strength."

"I see," Takato said. "But you'd better be careful, Kazu and Kenta are after you. And with the reward, everyone else will be too."

"Don't worry about me Takato, I'll be fine," Jeri said.

After that was done, Takato put the newspaper away and the two of them started walking along the boardwalk.

"Takato, when I saved you nine years ago, was that when you first became afraid of the water?" Jeri asked

"Yes. It was so scary that I couldn't go near water again, except when I shower," Takato explained.

"But do you want be scared of it forever?"

"No. It's just every time I go near the ocean, I start thinking about it."

"Well I'll help you overcome it."

"Thanks Jeri,"

Takato went back to his house to get ready. After he few minutes he came out the house wearing his bathing suit. Jeri lead him to a shallow part of the ocean.

"Don't worry Takato, the water here isn't over your head," Jeri said.

"Ok," Takato said.

He climbed into the water, it was a little cold, but he got used to it soon.

"You see Takato," Jeri said, "as fierce as the water is, it can be very gentle too."

"Gentle, just like you are," Takato said.

"You're so sweet Takato."

Back at the lab, Miles continued to do research to figure out where the mermaid was hiding, then he noticed something.

"I've found it!" Miles said to another guy by him.

"What?" The guy asked.

"A clue about the mermaid."

"What is it?"

"It says here that a yellow shirt and a green jumper dress have been stolen."

"And your point is?"

"If a mermaid is hiding here, she'd want to blend in."

"So she takes some clothes. She probably dove back in the water after you lost her. I'm sure somebody would notice a person with a large fish-like tail on land. And beside, she couldn't even walk."

"Unless she's able to disguise herself when she's on land."

"If you say so."

Back with the others, Takato was swimming around the ocean while Jeri watched him.

"Hey! I think I'm getting it!" Takato said as he started doing tricks in the water.

"And don't worry!" Jeri called out, "I'll help you if you're in trouble."

A while later, Kazu and Kenta spotted them and noticed that Takato was swimming.

"Am I seeing things?" Kazu asked.

"No," Jeri said, "I taught Takato how to swim."

"Hey guys, come on in!" Takato called out.

"Be right there!" Kazu said.

He and Kenta took off their shirts and dove right into the water. Then the three of them played in the water for a while until it got too cold and they swam back to shore where Jeri had some towels waiting. They all dried off and went home.

For the next few days, Takato, Jeri, Kazu, and Kenta became closer friends. The four of them did a whole bunch of things together, and Takato wasn't even frightened anymore when Kazu started rocking the boat, but he still did it because made Kenta seasick. And Kazu and Kenta continued to search for the mermaid, and continued to find nothing.

A few more days past and the four of them had just finished hanging out around the docks and were going home. Takato said he'd walk Jeri home and then the two of them headed to the house Jeri was staying at. Along the way, they noticed a man and a woman on a boat. Both were having a good time and then the boy pressed his lips against the girl's lips. Jeri looked in amazement at it.

"Takato, what are they doing?" She asked.

"They're kissing," Takato answered.

"What is kissing?"

"Well, it's when two people who, well love each other, uh show it."

"Wow! That's amazing!"

"It's just something some people..."

But before Takato could finish, Jeri kissed him, right on the lips. Takato felt surprised by it and only one thing was in his mind, how much he was enjoying it. After a minute, Jeri stopped and Takato was still surprised by it.

"Wow!" He said.

"Is there something wrong Takato?" Jeri asked him.

"No, I just didn't expect you to have the same feelings that I have for you. Jeri, I love you."

"Takato, I can't stay here forever, sooner or later, I'll have to go back to the sea."

"I don't care Jeri, you're the most special girl in the world." Then Jeri blushed a little and kissed Takato again.

The next day came and the gang headed over to Kazu's house. Now the only one home besides Kazu was his brother Miles, and Kazu did tell him that the guys were coming. Soon the others arrived and the three of them started playing a board game. Miles was in his room, busy doing some research on mermaids. He went downstairs to check on Kazu and the others and there he noticed Jeri.

"Green dress, yellow shirt," He thought, "I think I'll get to know her."

He walked downstairs and approached her.

"Hi," Jeri said.

"Jeri, this is my brother Miles," Kazu said, "Miles this is Jeri."

"Hi," Miles said as he looked at her dress, "nice outfit. Where'd you get it?"

"I don't know, I just had it on." Jeri said.

"Oh yeah," Kazu said, "I forgot to mention that they found Jeri by the sea. Everyone's pretty sure she's been in a shipwreck and is suffering from amnesia."

"Ok, just hope you regain your memory," Miles said.

Then he started thinking about what Kazu said.

"So they found her by the sea, could she be the one?" He thought.

After a while, Kazu beat everyone at the game.

"Who's da man! Who's da man!" He shouted.

"Why don't we head outside?" Takato suggested.

"That sounds like a good idea," Jeri said.

The four of them went onto the deck of Kazu's house.

"Now's my chance," Miles thought as he followed them.

He noticed that the four of them were playing a tag game. Miles picked up a hose and waited for Jeri to get close to him. When she got in range, he turned on the hose and squirted her. Jeri felt water hitting her entire body and wasn't too happy about it. Kazu and Kenta were in shock about it and Takato was worried.

"This is bad," He thought, "if Jeri's legs get wet, they'll know she's a mermaid."

Soon Jeri fell to the ground. Takato picked up a towel and rapped it around her legs. Then Miles came over to them.

"Tell me Takato, why are you hiding her legs?" He asked.

"How could you do that to Jeri?" Takato said in outrage, "She hadn't done anything to you!"

"Yeah," Kazu said, "that was kinda low."

"Well guys, I think you should see this." He said.

He pulled the towel away from Jeri, revealing her green tail. Kazu and Kenta were both shocked by it.

Days had past ever since Miles revealed Jeri's secret and took her to the lab. Takato's parents were distressed at the fact Takato had been hanging around her and took him to every doctor in the area to find out if he got any weird side effect from the experience. And Kazu and Kenta were still shook up about the fact that the mermaid was right under their noses the whole time, and even more by the fact that Takato was hiding her the whole time.

"Dude, the mermaid was by us, and we missed her," Kazu said.

"Yeah, I still can't believe it was Jeri all along," Kenta said.

"Guess Takato really wanted her to stay here."

"You know, she did liven the place up when she was around."

"Yeah."

"I know, why don't we go visit her, my brother has allowed family members to see her."

"Ok, but let's not tell Takato, he's still depressed about it."

Kazu and Kenta went to the lab and entered the room that they were keeping Jeri. They found her in a tank inside, but she didn't look too well. She spotted them and swam over to them.

"Hi Kazu, hi Kenta," She said in a weak voice.

"Jeri you don't look so good," Kazu said, "what's wrong?"

"Don't worry about me, I just get a little weak if I'm not exposed to the water of the ocean for a long time. Well, it was nice seeing you guys."

"Yeah, same here," Kazu said.

The two of them left the room, very distressed.

"We have to help her," Kenta said.

"I know, but maybe we can do something if I talk to Miles," Kazu suggested.

"What is it you want to talk about?" Miles said, overhearing the conversation outside the room.

"Well, Jeri's isn't looking very well," Kazu said, "and we know a way to help her feel better."

"It doesn't matter how she's feeling," Miles said, "tomorrow we'll be dissecting her."

"Dissecting!" Kazu said, "But why?"

"Well we want to study her body a little more, and at this point, it's the only way to do more,"

Miles left both Kazu and Kenta, who were even more distressed then before.

Takato had been sad ever since Jeri was taken by the science lab. He missed the way that she was always smiling and knew how to make everyone happy. He continued thinking about their moments together. Then he heard his mother calling him that Kazu and Kenta came over and that they were coming up to his room. When they got there, Takato could tell that it was urgent.

"Takato, this is very important!" Kazu said, "Miles told me that the lab wants to dissect Jeri tomorrow."

"What? We can't let them kill her!" Takato shouted.

"But what can we do?" Kenta asked.

"Leave it to me," Kazu bragged, "I've got a plan."

Night fell and the three guys headed to the lab, they each wore black shirts, black pants, and masks over their faces. They entered through a window in the lab.

"Don't worry," Kazu said, "my brother has clearance to this area, and I have the card that will let us in. All we have to do is slip past the guards."

They hid in the hall way and Kazu through a stone away from the door. One of the two guards ran to check it out. Then Kazu through another stone and hit the other guard right in the forehead. The guard fell to the ground and was knocked out.

"Now's our chance," Kazu said as the three of them ran to the room where Jeri was held. They found her lying at the bottom her tank, they could tell that she was getting weak. Takato removed his mask and looked at her. Jeri smiled to see him again.

"Takato you came," Jeri said.

"Jeri, we're going to bust you out," Takato said, "tonight you're going home."

"Thank you Takato," Jeri said.

Then she swam to the top of the tank and Takato moved closer to it. Both of them leaned forward and kissed each other for a while.

"We'd better get out of here, there are tons of guards coming!" Kazu said.

Takato and Kenta helped Jeri out of the water tank and hid her in a blanket. They both picked her up and escaped out of an exit door. They made their way out of the lab and to the parking lot.

"What do we do now?" Kenta asked.

"Don't worry," Kazu said as he held up some keys, "I was told they work on a truck."

"But you don't know how to drive," Kenta stated.

"It shouldn't be too hard."

The boys ran over to the truck and Kazu unlocked all the doors. Kazu climbed into the driver's seat and Kenta into the passenger's seat. Takato put Jeri in the back and sat beside her. Then Kazu started the car and took off, and caused some traffic problems at the same time. Takato used some buckets of water to keep Jeri's tail wet.

"Don't worry Jeri," Takato said, "we'll get you to the ocean soon."

The next thing they knew, a police chopper started chasing them.

"Don't move!" The police said, "Just stop right there and we'll let you go."

"Like I'm going to," Kazu shouted back.

"I don't think they can hear you," Kenta said.

"Do you think I care about that? Come on, we're almost at the docks,"

Kazu continued swerving and tried his best not to create accidents. After a while, he made it to the docks and was able to get the back of the truck close to the water. Takato opened the doors in the back of the truck.

"Jeri," Takato said, "I want you to get as far away from here as you can, those people at the lab will do anything to get you."

"Goodbye Takato," Jeri said, "I promise I'll never forget you."

"I promise I won't forget you ether," Takato said.

Then he picked up Jeri and threw her into the water. He noticed that Jeri was swimming away, but everything wasn't done yet.

"Dude, their helicopters have caught up with us!" Kazu said.

The lab's copters getting closer to the docks. Then some of the lab's scuba divers dove into the water to catch Jeri.

"Leave her alone!" Takato shouted.

"Dude, they don't care what you think," Kazu said.

Takato dove into the water after Jeri.

"Takato!" Kenta shouted.

Jeri was swimming on to get home, she heard something behind her. She turned around and saw some people swimming after her. She started to swim faster, but others appeared right in front of her. Then one of them fired a net launcher and Jeri was trapped inside the net. She tried struggling, but it just got her into more trouble. The scuba divers approached her, grabbed the net she was in, and started taking her back to the copter. Luckily for her, Takato came to her rescue at that time. He punched a person holding the net in the face, making him drop his part of the net. Then he swam over to the other guy and removed the tube that connected his mask to his air tank, forcing the man to swim to the surface. He too let go of the net and Jeri was free, and ready to fight the guys and make them leave her alone. She slapped some with her tail while Takato continued punching them. But after a while Takato wasn't able to hold his breath any longer and collapsed. Jeri saw it and quickly swam over to him. She grabbed his body and gave him a form of mouth to mouth, but this way gave him the ability to breathe underwater. Now he was back in action and nothing was going to stop him. He continued to fight off any of the lab's scuba divers that got too close to Jeri. But they both knew that only the two of them could not stop them all. Then Kazu and Kenta arrived, both wearing snorkels. The two of them pulled out some tubes on the air tanks, forcing the people to swim back up. But some of the lab people countered by stealing their snorkels. Jeri came to their rescue by using the same technique she used on Takato. Both Kazu and Kenta were back in action and rejoined the fight. At that point, there were six divers against the four of them, but the kids were sure they could take the lab's agents because of their ability to breathe underwater. The four of them continued trying to sneak up behind them and remove the agent's air supplies, forcing them to return to the top. Seeing that all their agents retreated, the copters took off and left Jeri alone. The four watched the copters leave and Takato knew that Jeri was safe for now.

"Thanks for rescuing me guys," Jeri said.

"No sweat," Kazu said.

"By the way, what did you do to us?" Kenta asked.

"It's this technique that can let land dwellers breathe under water," Jeri said, "but they can only use it once and when they leave the water, the effect wears off."

"Then I guess this is good-bye," Takato said as tears filled his eyes.

"It's not yet Takato," Jeri said, "the gift I've given you will allow you, all of you, to live with me and my friends. But accepting it won't let you return home. But I'm giving the choice to you."

"Well if I return, my brother and parents will kill me, so I'm going," Kazu said.

"Living under the sea sounds cool, I'm going too," Kenta said.

Takato just remained silent, not knowing what to do. Then he spoke up.

"I'm going too," Takato said, "I was hoping there would be a way you could stay Jeri, and I'm not letting this chance slip by."

"Thanks Takato," Jeri said, "I wanted to tell you about this sometime, but I didn't know if you wanted to go. Besides, I wanted to stay with you too Takato."

Then the two of them swam towards each other and kissed. After that was done, the four of them swam off to their new home.


End file.
